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rocker_oz33

rocker_oz33

TheBrownDog
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May 15, 2007
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hi bigfooty folk I'm heading to the sydney in early july prob not the best time.but work have been hassling me to take some holiday time.never been to sydney before so thought we'll (me and missus) check the place out.

what are peoples thoughts on things to do and places to see and good cheapish places to eat at?

already thinking of going to the blue mountains
the opera house/bridge
wild zoo/ aquarium/Sydney tower
the cross/rocks/darling harbor
manly/bondi beach
china town

anything else many thanks.:)
 
Blue mountains definitely :thumbsu:

Anything down by the water. best part of the city...

Manly ferry is a nice harbour cruise, and free. Bit cold in July, but still worth it.

Probably worth taking big walk from Woolloomoloo, through the Botanic Gardens, past the Opera house, up into the Rocks at the foot of the Harbour Bridge (don't stop at George St where all the shops are, continue up the hill into the houses).
Couple of very nice pubs in the Rocks (Australian Hotel, Lord Nelson, Harts Pub) where you can get a good feed and nice beers, while the Glenmore is a pretty utilitarian joint with a pretty speccy rooftop bar.

Centrepoint/Sydney Tower is nothing amazing. Definitely don't pay the 30 bucks or whatever it is to go up to the observation level. The best thing to do there is to go grab a drink at the revolving bar around sunset. 20 bucks gets you as good a view as you get from the observation deck, plus a seat for as long as you want, plus booze.

SydneyTowerBuffet_0004_Layer-1.jpg

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**** the "wild zoo" + Aquarium off, and get a ferry over to Taronga zoo. Taronga is beautiful, while the Aquarium is nothing special, and is in Darling Harbour, a Docklands-like shithole that should be avoided at all costs.

tarongazoo.jpg

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Plus Taronga Zoo has Mr Shuffles

Mr-S-talks-to-Mum.jpg
 

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Very nice photos there. :thumbsu:

All I can recommend is the bridge climb. Very expensive, but an amazing experience. Something you'd do just "once" in your lifetime, but it is worth it.

I dont mind Sydney now tbh- I also did the White Water Rafting at the Olympic site where they did the kayaking in 2000. Was fun, but the "track" or river isnt that big and it got quite repetitive after a while.
 
Negatives

CBD stinks like garbage, like your just walking along and then you just get a whiff of garbage smell. Not sure where it comes from since the hosing down the footpaths most mornings.

Homeless and beggars every where. Im not saying there is none in Melbourne, but nothing like Sydney.

Monorail, is really s**t. Two Hands got my hopes up on that one.

Aquarium agreed, seen one you've seen them all.

Opera House, walk around it, leave, pretty underwhelming. Looks better from a distance.

Museum, cant believe they charge for that, other than the Harbour bridge stuff and the Aboriginal section, there is literally nothing.

Hard to find a decent coffee, never really believed this when everybody says it but its true.


Positives.

There is a Fred Perry store. In fact id say the shopping is way better than Melbourne

Botanic Gardens is awesome, could of sat there all day.

Public Transport, only used the train but miles better than Melb. Plus train station right under the airport :thumbsu:

Walk around the Rocks area, it like being in a time-warp. I pretty much did that walk that J_moore has said.



Didnt go to the Cross (not my thing) but regret not going to Taronga Zoo.
 
lemon chicken said:
Public Transport, only used the train but miles better than Melb. Plus train station right under the airport :thumbsu:
.
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This.

So easy with the train station at the airport. You are in the centre of Sydney in no time at all.

Dont know how people handle Melb Airport and the crap transport out there. (Has never worried me, I live pretty close to it)
 
Food-wise
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If you're in Sydney on a Friday afternoon, it's sheer madness not to hit up the Prix Fixe at Marque. It's one of Sydney's better restaurants, SMH restaurant of the year, three hats and all that

Usually $100+ to eat there, but on Friday they do a $45pp set menu. 3 big courses, with 3 little in between numbers, too. It's pretty awesome, and, for the price, amazingly good value.

Just need to have the sort of palette where you can eat pretty much anything put in front of you, 'cause you can't choose.

Other than that, there's a whole heap of good cheap Asian around.
 
It always amuses me when people come up from Melbourne and rave about how great Sydney's public transport is. I think it's better for visitors with the City Circle and the Airport line, but having lived in both Melbourne's is far superior from a resident's perspective.

It's easy to get excellent coffee in Sydney these days if you're familiar with the locale. It's just different Melbourne where you can walk into anywhere and odds are you'll get something pretty drinkable. The issue is mainly that Sydneysiders are less picky, so making a good cup of joe isn't necessary for a cafe to survive. As a result there are a lot of places that churn out pretty ordinary stuff.

The tour of the Opera House is pretty damn expensive (I think it's like $40) but if you're an architecture buff it's definitely worth it. I baulked at the price initially but I didn't regret it afterwards - you get a much better appreciation of the building.

If you're interested in the bridge but don't want to shell out for the BridgeClimb, you can climb the south-east pylon for free (or at least, it was free 10 years ago). There's a small museum and a viewing platform.

Best cheap eats in Sydney are down in Chinatown. Stone's throw from the fishmarkets, fantastic seafood. Can stuff your face at yum-cha for $12 or $15 a head.

If you really want to do the beach thing, go to Coogee rather than Bondi. More to do there in winter anyway.

Powerhouse Museum is pretty good if you've got kids. Not sure I'd bother with it if you don't though.

As someone said, make sure you take the ferry to Manly. Best way to see the harbour - if possible do it on a Saturday when the yachts are out racing, much more interesting (although there won't be too many around given it's midwinter).
 
thanks for the reply's guys..:thumbsu: really happy there's a train station under the airport.thought we'll have to wait ages for a bus or pay a arm n leg to the CBD.yep we'll do the good zoo place only reason l put the other things on there l found a 50 dollar 4 in pass witch has wild zoo,the tower,Aquarium and something else (a ferry to manly l think).which l though was good because everything alone was $25 to $35.with the climbing bridge whats the go l know the price 200 bucks but what kind of fitness and how long is there safety training b/s take?
 
You don't have to be that fit, little old ladies do it. You have to be able to climb steep stairladders but they stop regularly for breaks/photo-ops.

IIRC it's like 1hr for prep/safety and then 2.5hrs for the actual climb. Although I think they also do an 'express climb' that knocks an hour off that.

We did the sunset climb and that was pretty awesome. Sunrise would be better but you have to get there at like 4am.
 
rocker_oz33 said:
.with the climbing bridge whats the go l know the price 200 bucks but what kind of fitness and how long is there safety training b/s take?
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The whole thing takes around 3 hours to complete. You get suited up, etc and spoken to about safety beforehand. Climbs go ahead, rain or shine. If there is a storm or lightning, that is when they will obviously cancelled. You get a warm hoodie, etc in case of inclement weather.


Fitness wise- I was a bit worried, I'm an asthmatic and was concerned about climbing up so many stairs. But it was easy as, I had no problems.

You are connected to the "line" at all times on your harness.
 
Caesar said:
If you're interested in the bridge but don't want to shell out for the BridgeClimb, you can climb the south-east pylon for free (or at least, it was free 10 years ago). There's a small museum and a viewing platform.
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Nothing is for free any more. $11. Though if you do the bridge climb they give you a free voucher. Agreed on the sunset climb, did it earlier this year and was well worth the extra.

If you really want to do the beach thing, go to Coogee rather than Bondi. More to do there in winter anyway.
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On a nice day (might be hard to get one of those in July though!) the walk from Coogee to Bondi is quite nice.

I also found Watson's Bay quite a nice spot, at the south heads can pick up a drink and a feed and look back down to the harbour.
 

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the bridge climb is growing on me.l was a bit turned off on the price (but when rome) and someone said.make sure you do it with some you like because there bum is going to be in your face or something like that.strange l know,the sunset climb sounds good but l am not a morning person at all grumpy mainly cause l work nights.l'll def look in to doing it.dam l wish the cats were playing a game up there oh well.thanks again for peoples input:).
 
FootyJunkie said:
Absolute joke that Melbourne still doesn't have a train line out to Tulla.
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I've heard of one plan to extend the tram line out there- but that would mean what well over an hour to get to Flinders St. (From Airport West to the city is at least 50 mins).

I guess the only thing they could do is an underground line- but where would it link up with?? Theres no train stations out there.... the only train line out there is like a freight one :confused:


But yes, it is a joke.
 
Caesar said:
It always amuses me when people come up from Melbourne and rave about how great Sydney's public transport is. I think it's better for visitors with the City Circle and the Airport line, but having lived in both Melbourne's is far superior from a resident's perspective.
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this a million times over.

lived in mlebourne 2 years now without a car and never really any major hassles. a few hiccups here and there as can be expected. wouldn't even dream of going car less in sydney though.

the airport train is handy but expensive. you can save $10 each way by getting the 400 bus out of the airport either to mascot train station (stops about 300m away) or to botany road and getting one of the many buses that go to central and/or circular quay.... wouldn't recommend it for folks never been to sydney. pretty easy to get lost.

as caeser said wouldn't bother with bondi this time of year. there isn't much to do down there and when it's freezing cold it's pretty unpleasant.

for heading out - hit up newtown and surry hills and steer clear of george street.
 
If they haven't canned the route take a ferry out to watsons bay and have lunch at doyles if it's a nice day. Good view of sydneys most expensive suburbs. Watsons bay I think you can get to bondi as well.

Another similar option is if you go the zoo go down to Balmoral beach.

Or if you like the idea of the blue mountains, the royal national park is pretty good, this only park older than it is Yellowstone
 
moved here a few months ago and loving it

I reckon the most under rated place is the SCG, goddam i love that joint, we just don't have a ground like it in melbourne anymore, its got that 80s charm and character, it's like a boutique stadium, but unlike the dome, its got a soul to it

Bondi - just walk up the top of Ramsgate ave and stare over the cliffs, then walk down towards icebergs (along Bondi Beach, not the worst walk) and check out more cliffs, its just a brilliant view

if you're up for a 1hr drive head down to Palm Beach, beautiful beaches rain forest tyupe area and its where Home and Away is shot (but seriously besides that its beautiful)

the opera house and bridge as one offs are great, will add more if i think of them
 
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